There is a long held debate between die hard race fans over street tracks and permanent race tracks, and which one they prefer.
Permanent tracks are tracks that have been built with the express purpose of holding race meetings. These tracks, like Sydney Motorsport Park, Winton Raceway and The Bend Motorsport Park, have been made to satisfy all racers. At the top end of town, they hold rounds of the Repco Supercars Championship, the teams also test there, plus they host other motorsport events for national, state and club level drivers.
A street track, though, is quite different. The circuits are no permanent, taking the racing into main towns around the world, bringing the sport to the fans. Generally, they only pop up once a year, held on streets that locals would generally drive on every day of the year.
Dick Johnson is one of the most famous and successful race drivers in Australia. He won five Australian Touring Car crowns and the Bathurst 1000 three times.
He has also driven on just about every race track in Australia and New Zealand – permanent and street courses.
So while at Townsville for the latest round of the Repco Supercars Championship, we sat down with ‘Tricky Dicky’ to talk about the differences and his preference when it comes to the great debate – Street tracks or permanent circuits.